Chinese charity donates 200 ambulances to poverty-stricken areas

A total of 200 ambulances are set to head for hospitals in 15 poverty-stricken regions in China, the China Siyuan Foundation for Poverty Alleviation announced Saturday.

The foundation said each of the 592 poverty-stricken counties across China is expected to receive three ambulances before 2020.

For now, more than 1,200 ambulances have been put into use since January 2013, benefiting more than 70 million people.

"Reducing illness-related poverty is significant in China's poverty relief campaign," said Li Xiaolin, president of the foundation, citing that illness has become the major cause of poverty in the country, with 42 percent of rural poverty cases caused by bad health.

The foundation has also focused on transferring medical resources from urban hospitals to rural ones to give rural areas better access to medical services. Endi